


Alexandria Falls

by AgentStannerShipper



Series: tumblr ficlets [88]
Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, The Library of Alexandria, and the burning thereof, crowley is pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 08:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20150674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: Knowledge burns.





	Alexandria Falls

**Author's Note:**

> For the sentence prompts: “You know I’m not like that.” and “You…you never had a problem with it before.”

Aziraphale was already waiting there when Crowley approached him, standing several meters away from the blazing building and staring into the wreckage. The shifting sands buffeted Crowley, scratching at his ankles beneath his robes, imbedding itself in the tangles of his curls. He stopped mere feet behind Aziraphale, as helpless as the angel in light of the blaze.

“All that knowledge, lost,” he murmured. “A shame.”

“_A shame_?” Aziraphale’s voice was ice in the desert heat, a hiss that would sound more in character in Crowley’s mouth. The angel rounded on him, “_A shame? _As if your people didn’t- as if you-“

“What?” Crowley took two steps back, raising his hands in what he hoped was a gesture of surrender. He’d never seen Aziraphale like this, ready to smite, to kill. “Aziraphale, please. You know me, you know I wouldn’t…you know I’m not like that. I’m more…giving knowledge, not burning it. You _know _that.”

For a moment, it looked like Aziraphale wasn’t going to listen. Then the angel’s shoulders slumped. He turned back to the fire. Crowley came up to stand beside him, glancing at Aziraphale out of the corner of his eye. The angel’s cheeks were badly flushed, but his eyes were wet. “Why?” Aziraphale asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Crowley admitted it. “I think Caesar might have-“

“Not that,” Aziraphale said. He looked at Crowley, and the demon forced himself to school a wince at the unbridled pain in the angel’s eyes. “Why are you here, Crowley? If not to cause this?”

“Oh.” Crowley shifted from foot to foot. The truth was, he’d been looking for Aziraphale. As stupid as it was for a demon to seek out an angel, Crowley had taken a shine to the principality, and it had been awhile since they’d seen each other. Last Crowley had heard, Aziraphale had been holed up in Alexandria, and so he’d gone. But he wasn’t sure he could say that, not now.

“Just wanted a change of scenery,” he said. It was only half a lie. He reached for the angel, touching his elbow hesitantly. “Come on. There’s nothing you can do.” He gave a little tug, but Aziraphale didn’t move, shaking off Crowley’s touch.

“I’m staying,” he said. “All those scrolls…I couldn’t save them. They deserve someone to witness their destruction.”

Crowley didn’t know if he agreed – they were just pieces of paper. Surely the knowledge would be passed on by people who studied it? At least some of it would survive. But he stayed himself anyway.

After a moment, Aziraphale said, “You should go.”

“It’s alright. I’ll stay with you.”

“No.” Aziraphale turned to him. “I meant, you should go. You shouldn’t…we shouldn’t…”

Crowley blinked. Then he blinked again. “You…want me to leave.”

“I don’t think it wise for us to speak anymore.”

“You…you never had a problem with it before,” Crowley said. He took a step towards Aziraphale. “In Eden…and then after, I mean…you never…”

“Yes, well,” Aziraphale swallowed hard and stepped back. “That was before. I can’t in good consciousness continue to interact with a demon. It would…it wouldn’t be proper.”

“Oh.” Crowley’s stomach sank. If he wasn’t a demon, he might have said his heart did too. He turned his back of the burning library, on the angel standing before it. He made it a few paces away, and then stopped. Over his shoulder, he said, just loud enough to be heard over the crackling flames, “I’ll be in the city for a little while. Few weeks, probably. If you change your mind. We could get dinner or…something.”

Aziraphale did not respond. After a heartbeat, Crowley continued, “We’re stuck down here together, angel. Just the two of us, for eternity. Just…think about it.”

He walked away, leaving Aziraphale behind him, in the swirling dust.


End file.
